6,210,252 B1 April 2001 Anderson 446/418
5,961,367 October 1999 Morris 446/397
5,716,254 February 1998 Bowes 446/397
5,562,521 October 1996 Butler et al. 446/397
5,529,526 June 1996 Wesley 446/397
5,178,575 January 1993 Koch 446/397
4,988,325 January 1991 Alderson 446/397
4,904,221 February 1990 Taylor 446/397
4,854,914 August 1989 White 446/397
4,662,858 May 1987 Hall 446/397
4,648,852 March 1987 Wingate 446/397
4,586,912 May 1986 Adams 446/397
4,310,986 January 1982 Jacobs 446/397
4,003,159 January 1977 Piper 46/189
3,716,943 February 1973 Orzetti 446/397
3,208,184 April 1963 Wisor 446/397
2,958,157 November 1960 Tannehill 46/177
2,643,483 June 1953 Walker 46/189
(Not Applicable)
(Not Applicable)
This invention pertains to the field of game calls, and particularly to the field of game calls in which sounds are generated to simulate the sounds made by a wild turkey. Specifically, the invention relates to a hand-held striker for frictionally interacting with a hand-held game call, the striker and game call both having adjustable elements which may be manually adjusted to produce a plurality of different turkey sounds, thereby making it possible for a person hunting wild turkeys to attract wild turkeys with turkey sounds which are an improvement over the sounds produced by presently available game calls made for the same purpose.
Game calls for producing sounds attractive to wild turkeys can be broadly defined by four classes. These are as follows.
1) Box calls, where wood is rubbed against wood to produce turkey-like sounds.
2) Diaphragm calls, where air is forced over a membrane to make it vibrate in ways which result in turkey-like sounds.
3) Suction calls, where a small tube is sucked on in a way which makes turkey-like sounds.
4) Peg calls, where a peg such as a wood dowel is rubbed across a roughened surface such as slate to produce turkey-like sounds.
Peg calls can be further classified as those where a peg is moved across a roughened surface by mechanical means, and peg calls where a peg is manually rubbed across a roughened surface.
The present invention is the type where a peg is manually rubbed across a roughened surface.
Game calls other than the present invention have distinct disadvantages for attracting wild turkeys when their sounds and operational features are compared to the present invention. One of their disadvantages is that their general tone cannot be easily changed in order to more nearly simulate the variety of sounds made by real turkeys.
Even though other game calls may be able to make several notes, those sounds are repetitiously made with the same frequency for each note of sound.
When turkeys hear the same calling sounds over and over from game calls, they soon pay no attention to those calls. During the last days of the hunting season wild turkeys become wary of the repetitive sounds of game calls. It is then that other kinds of came calls are the least useful, but the present invention, because of its numerous tuning features, can be operated to continue to draw turkeys to the user.
None of the cross-referenced game calls have a quality equaling or surpassing the present invention with respect to tunability, ease of repair, or sound. They all have significant drawbacks relative to the present invention. All these patents utilize in some way a roughened surface for a sound pad and/or a manually-operated striker None have a stretchable membrane opposite the sound pad. None are capable of having all the parts easily changeable or repairable. None have broad tuning capabilities. Other disadvantages of each are noted below.
1) U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,252 B1 does not have a handle which can be moved up or down the striker peg for the purpose of obtaining sounds of varying frequencies.
2) U.S. Pat. No. 5,961,367 does not have a handle which can be moved up or down the striker peg for the purpose of obtaining sounds of varying frequencies.
3) U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,254 uses a large cone attached to the striker and a wrist-mounted sound pad without a housing. The presence of a wrist under the sound pad will destroy the necessary resonance.
4) U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,521 uses a rigid, domed disk opposite the sound pad, and a non-adjustable handle.
5) U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,526 uses a striker having three ineffective horizontal sound chambers and a non-adjustable handle.
6) U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,575 has a striker having a non-adjustable handle.
7) U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,325 has a striker having a non-adjustable handle.
8) U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,221 includes a number of different strikers, but none of their handles are adjustable.
9) U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,914 has a rigid cover opposite the sound pad and a non-adjustable striker handle.
10) U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,858 has a rigid cover opposite the sound pad, and a non-adjustable striker handle.
11) U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,852 has a rigid cover opposite the sound pad, and a non-adjustable striker handle.
12) U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,912 has a rigid cover opposite the sound pad, and a non-adjustable striker.
13) U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,986 has no solid cover opposite the sound pad, and has a non-adjustable striker.
14) U.S. Pat. No. 4,003,159 has a rigid cover opposite the sound pad and a non-adjustable striker handle.
15) U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,943 has a rigid cover opposite the sound pad and a non-adjustable striker handle.
16) U.S. Pat. No. 3,208,184 is made to produce sound by twisting part of the call, and it does not have a changeable striker rod or adjustable striker weight.
17) U.S. Pat. No. 2,958,157 is a plain piece of slate with a simple peg striker without a resonance chamber, and the striker has no adjustable weight for producing varying frequencies.
18) U.S. Pat. No. 2,643,483 is made to produce sound by twisting part of the call, and it does not have a changeable striker rod or adjustable striker weight.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved game call capable of producing authentic wild turkey sounds.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a game call that can produce wild turkey sounds of varying frequencies.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a game call that will provide wild turkey sounds which surpass the authenticity of sound and volume of sound produced by existing game calls.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a game call that will provide wild turkey sounds which can be easily altered or tuned at the hunting locale to suit the user.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a turkey call that is in all important respects easily capable of being repaired by the user, using readily-available parts, and common household tools.
These and other important objectives are accomplished with the turkey call comprising the present invention. The turkey call includes a striker assembly, and a striker weight assembly.
The sound box housing assembly comprises an upper portion and a lower portion between which a flexible membrane is held by clamping friction. The upper portion and the lower portion are held tightly together by removable fasteners. The upper portion has a front side with a first opening. The lower portion has a back side with a second opening. A rigid friction element is configured to be removably received in the first opening of the sound box housing assembly to form a striking surface for the turkey call. A collar member is adjustably positioned between the flexible membrane and the rigid friction element. The collar member presses upon the inner surface of the flexible membrane, and stretches it towards the second opening of the sound box housing assembly, thus creating a sound chamber within the sound box housing assembly. The collar member can be rotated so that ramped notches on one edge of the collar member slide over pins fastened removably to the inner wall of the sound box housing assembly thus regulating the amount of pressure on the inner surface of the flexible membrane, thereby providing a means of adjusting the pressure on and tension in the flexible membrane. The configuration of the rigid friction element, flexible membrane, and collar member within the sound box housing assembly forms a sound chamber much like that of a musical drum. This configuration produces turkey sounds when the striking surface of the rigid friction element is placed in moving contact with a rigid member.
The striker assembly serves as a rigid member for the purpose of making turkey sounds, but the sounds produced will have a ringing component which is uncharacteristic of turkey sounds. The ringing is reduced to a negligible amount by the use of a fabric strip held again st the inner surface of the flexible membrane by an adjustable, malleable tuning element which has one end embedded in the wall of the sound box housing assembly. The fabric strip will serve to dampen any unwanted ringing sound component. When the sound box housing assembly is initially assembled, the elongate, metal-arm, tuning element is set to provide more pressure on the fabric strip than is anticipated to be necessary, then, after the sound box housing assembly is assembled, pressure from a finger on the outer surface of the flexible membrane opposite the fabric strip and metal arm tuning element may be used to position the dampening device to its optimum pressure. If the dampening becomes too little, the sound box housing assembly can be disassembled, and the metal arm tuning element bent further towards the membrane to reinitiate maximum dampening.
The striker assembly comprises a rigid, cylindrical rod element and a striker weight assembly which can be moved up or down on the rigid cylindrical rod to alter the vibrational frequencies of the rod element when it is used to make a moving contact with the rigid frictional element for the purpose of making turkey sounds.
The striker weight assembly comprises a cylindrical block through which a hole is bored on the central axis. The hole is fitted with flexible ring elements to frictionally secure the striker weight assembly to the striker rod element. The striker weight can then be moved up or down on the striker peg to obtain varying sounds. The striker weight element may have a groove on its circumference for attaching a string tether.